Secondary or storage battery



Jan. 7, 1936. E. w. SMITH SECONDARY OR STORAGE BATTERY 'Filed Aug. 2:5, 19:55

AM\N\N\\\\\\\\ 4 4 #MEA/mf? falaz/draf 5y Patented Jan. 7, 1'936` SECONDARYOR STORAGE'BATTERY I EdwardvW. Smith, Philadelphia, Pa., assgnor to The Electric Storage Battery Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporationof New Jersey v'Application August 23, 1935, Serial No.'37,436

TCIamS.' (Cl. 13G-177) This invention relates to storage battery cells and its primary object is to'provide such a cell which is free from liability to explosion, which liability exists in prevailing types of such cells when oxygen and hydrogen are being given off toward the end of the charging Driod.

In storage battery cells as ordinarily constructed, the elements are assembled in containers provided with covers sealed to the walls of the containers and provided with openings through which the terminals pass with an air tight seaL-a small vent opening being provided through the cover to permit the escape of gas.

The electrolyte level is maintained, by the addition of water when necessary, at a level appreciably below the under side of the cover, thus allowing a space between the electrolyte and the cover for the collection of the'hydrogen and oxygen. given out during the gassing period, thus forming a pocket of explosive gas of sufficient volume to cause a violent explosion if accidentally ignited. Such explosions while of rare occurrence are in fact of suil'icient violence to shatter the containers, thus causing considerable personal risk to any attendants Who may be near by and in addition spilling all the electrolyte and thus putting the cell out of commission and rendering useless the whole battery of which theexploded cell forms but one unit.

My invention is designed to prohibit the possibility of the collection of any appreciable amount of explosive gases, thus eliminating all danger from such explosions. This and other objects of the invention will vbe more clearly Aseen by reference to the following description taken in con- 'I nection with the accompanying drawing. I

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a battery Ishipping the cell.

'cell and Figs. 2 and 3 show in section stoppers'for use in In the drawing I represents the container for the storage battery cell of glass, hard rubber or other suitable material. 2 represents .the plate element consisting of positive and negative plates 4and suitable separators suspended from straps 3 from which extend upwardly the terminal posts 4 made slightly dished up toward' the center; is provided with holes through which the posts 4 are inserted;` and is made to iit closely to the interior of the container by means of ilexible skirts 8, composed of softV rubber or other suitable mate- 5 rial. At the holes through which the posts 4 are inserted, the gas cover is provided at its lower side with bosses 9, for the purpose of diverting any gas bubbles around the holes and thus preventing them from coming up through Vthe slight 10 clearance space between the holes and the posts; and at the highest point of the gas cover, a hole' I0 is provided, into which vent tube I I is tted. The gas cover 'l and the vent tube I I may be made of any suitable material, such as hard rubber, cellu- 15 loid, or one of the Vynal compounds.

In the operation of the cell, the electrolyte is maintained, by the addition of water, at the level I2, above the gas cover, so that all of the slight openings where the posts pass through the cover 20 and where the soft skirts 8 contact with the container will always have a liquid seal. During periods of overcharge, while oxygen and hydrogen are being given off from the plates, the bubbles of gas rise until they reach the gas cover, then flow along together until they reach the highest point and escape thru the vent tube I I. There is, therefore, little or no explosive gas which can reach the main space between the electrolyte level I2 and the cover .6, and any gas which may reach .this space is in such small quantity that it may diiuse through an opening provided for filling the i cell with water as at the annular space I3 or and hence openings may beprovided forivent purposes without any risk` of introducing acid spray into the outside atmosphere. 'Ihe explo- 4 sive gas owing up the inclined surface of the gas cover to vent tube I I immediately escapes to the atmosphere and hence, although the tube itself may contain a rich explosive mixture, the volume of explosive gas is so slight that its ignition can cause no injury whatever to the cell as a whole, and in point of` fact, `it has been yfound by actual test that the gas may be ignited fromV time to time without Iin any way disturbing or injuring the cell.

A second object attained by this arrangement has to do with the replacing of;I electrolyte lost by decomposition and evaporation. This replacement is accomplished byadding water to the top of the cell-in the ordinary way, but the effect 55 of the gas cover is very marked as follows. When water is added to the electrolyte of the ordinary cell it rapidly mixes, thus diluting the electrolyte and reducing its specific gravity. Since speciiic gravity provides one of the most useful means of ascertaining the relative condition of charge and discharge of storage battery cells, this alteration, caused by the addition of water, is always misleading and as a consequence the amount of water which may be added at any one time isv limited to such amount as will not greatly change the specific gravity. This limitation, in turn, means that the periods for filling must be somewhat frequent, depending, of course, on the ser'- vice to which the cell is applied and whether there is much gassing during its operation.

The gas cover 1, by reason of the flexible skirt 8, forms a fairly tight seal with the container and hence retards, almost to the point of prevention, mixture between the liquid above and below it; that is to say, when water is added to the space above, this water does not immediately mix with the acid below, and therefore does not change its specific gravity so that readings of the latter are not affected and may be relied upon to an extent heretofore not obtainable.' The fact that this water does not mix also permits of an addition of considerable quantity at one time and thus means that the intervals between filling may be very much extended, as compared to present practice.

It will be noted however that as the volume of electrolyte below the gas cover 1 is reduced by electrolytic decomposition, the water above the cover will be gradually forced down through the minute space between the skirt 8 and the jar wall but this will occur very gradually and the water thus introduced will be thoroughly mixed with the electrolyte by the convection currents caused ,by the gassing.

The fact that there is not a perfectlyv tight seal between the skirt 8 and the wall of the jar results in maintaining the level of the electrolyte in the vent tube Il at about the same height as that maintained above the gas cover 1.

The cell as shown would not be suitable for shipment since acid would splash through the annular opening I3, or even through the ventA tube Il. To make it suitable for shipment, av stopper, Figure 2, may be inserted, surrounding the vent tube Il and fitting into the cover so asto completely close the annular space I3, while a smaller stopper, Figure 3, having a small vent opening, may be inserted in tube Il; or an alter- .native arrangement is to remove entirely` the vent tube Il from the cover 1 and insert in its place a stopper which completely closes the opening in the cover except fora minute vent opening to allow for the escape of small quantities of gas. To provide for this, the tube Il would have screw thread'engagement with the cover.

It will be observed to those skilled in the art thatimodiiications maybe made in details of construction and arrangement without departing J-from the spirit of the invention which is not limited to such matters or otherwisewhan the prior art and the appended claims may require,

cover having a vent tube passing through said '1. In a storage battery cell, the combination with a container, a plate element and a sealed-on closure having an opening, of a' gas cover mounted directly over the plate element and arranged 5 to collect'the gas given off by charging, said gas cover having a vent tube passing through said opening and adapted to carry oil the gas without accumulation of substantial 'amounts of said gas.

2. In a storage battery cell, the combination with a container containing electrolyte having a normal level, a plate element, and a sealed-on closure having an opening of a gas cover mounted directly over the plate element and vbelow the normal electrolyte level and arranged to collect the gas given olf by charging, said gas cover having a vent tube passing through said opening and adapted to carry oi the gas without accumulation of substantial amounts of said gas.

3. In a storage battery cell, the combination with a container, a plate element and a sealed-on closure having an opening, of a gas cover mounted directly over the plate element and arranged to collect the gas given olf by charging, said gas 25 openingand adapted to carry oif the gas without accumulation of substantial amounts of said gas, said gas cover having a flexible skirt closely tting the interior container walls.

4. In combination in a storage battery cell a 30 plate element with its terminal posts, a container containing electrolyte having a normal level and provided with a closure sealed to the, top thereof, said closure having suitable openings to receive the posts and having a vent and lling opening 3 therein, arid a supplementary gas cover located above the plate element and below the normal electrolyte level, said cover closely fitting the n- ;terior Walls of the containerand having openings closely fitting the terminal posts andhaving a 40,A

vent opening provided with a vent tube passing through the vent andlling opening of the clo-' sure. 5. A storage battery cell including a closure vented to the atmosphere and a plate structure 45 and containing electrolyte of which the level lies above the plate structure and is spaced below the cover, in combination with a supplementary cover arranged below the level of the electrolyte and vented to the atmosphere independently of 50..

the rst mentio/ned cover.

6. A storage battery cell having covers spaced apart and independently vented to the atmosphere and of which one' is arranged at the top of the cell and of which the other is arranged 55 below the level of the electrolyte in the cell and above the plate structure of the cell to provide a Water space above and a gas catcher below.

7. A storage battery cell having covers spaced apart and of which one has a filling opening and 60 is arranged at the top of the cell and of which the other is arranged below the level ofthe electrolyte in the cell and above the plate structure of the cell and is provided with a ventl tube extending through and beyond the lling open-` 65 ing.

EDWARD W. SMITH. 

